First Shot

Last Saturday I went out and picked up a book called "Food Photography; From Snapshots to Great Shots" by Nicole S. Young. Now I did not randomly pick a food photographer to buy a book from but instead I had been following her work for sometime. I love the natural look of the light, food and what surrounds it. When I decided that I would try food photography it was an easy decision to find her book and pick it up. Right now I am half way through it but when I finish I will  blog on what I thought of the book. So far I love it. 

Today was a taco breakfast day. My wife works a third shift so her dinner is my breakfast. She had been looking forward to this for three days so I wasn't going to disappoint her. Because it was so early my mind was not in the mode of photography. But when I finished putting my two delicious tacos together I could not help but take a photograph. At this point in the book I had just passed the part on lighting so I was eager to try a quick shot. I did not want to pull the camera out so I used my iPhone. I used two windows; the main light was a north facing window and the fill was an eastern window. It was early so the sun was shining in on the east but not directly on the food. The north light back lit the food so well and the eastern light filled in perfectly and helped with creating the texture I was looking for. I took 5 or so photographs in the square format and then processed them using Filterstorm and Snapseed. This was the best of the 5. Apart from the stylizing I think it came out great for a first attempt.   

 

The next section I am working on is food stylizing. This section and work is one I think I may be working a lot with. The problem is that I know what looks good but not sure how to create it. It is similar to when I learned to ballroom dance. I know the steps to the waltz or tango but to freestyle it, making it look good and fun for my wife? That is a struggle. I guess I will have to try and see. Luckily I have a lot of cook books to look over and help me along the way. 

My plan for this new skill is to plan a meal once a week so I can shoot it. This way I can get the ingredient and garnishes that day and they will look fresh for the photograph. I plan to keep it simple with the food stylizing and do the best with the background stuff. You know the bowls, silverware, glasses and the rest. I don't have much of a budget and will have to slowly pick stuff up. As I do start this I will blog about it. This way I can keep a record of what worked and what didn't, where I pick up stuff, while trying to keep the one or two people entertained. 

There you have it, my first photo officially of my food photography. I am sure it will get better. 

My Food Adventure

So I have been thinking about what I could do with my photography that would replace my current job. I could do just my "Art" and try to scrape by but we all know the saying; "A Starving Artist." I like the thought of architecture but right now it is a little cold and snowy so maybe not a good time to start. So what about food, food photography? That could be good.

Earlier this year I looked at the local  restaurant's website and for the most part the food looks poor. It looks like food but it doesn't appetizing. I think I could do better but until I try I will not be sure. After six or seven websites I thought I would see if there were any food photographers in the area. Too my surprise I did not find any that specialize or dabbled in food photography.  I find that a plus.

This past week I set up a spot in the basement and began to shoot. Now my goal right now is to come up with lighting setups that look good so food stylizing is not impotent. I have shot two subjects and I feel that both came out very well. A little still life like but again I am interested in lighting and creating common looks for food. I figure as I get more comfortable with the process then I can invent more with lighting. So here are the three photos so far.

I am planing to post a lot about my food photos and my other project that incorporates my bike. My goal is to tell stories and show photos and keep the technical stuff down. It isn't that I don't want to share information, I would be happy to answer questions, but I really want to talk more to the stories.

So after a long absents from this blog I am back and looking to show off some new stuff.